Wednesday, September 23rd
Route Map and Elevation profile
The breakfast "buffet" opened at 8:0am sharp, and there was a queue of (Spanish) hotel guests down the corridor - it was yet another feeding frenzy! We managed to squeeze in, and get what we wanted, then on the road in "reasonably" good time as the buses came to ferry the other hotel to God knows what entertainment...
New Team Tony member, Richard slots into his position behind Tony D and Graham as we leave Fantasyland on the coast for another 110km ride, this time to Valencia.
We were warned that the first (only) climb of the day came early, and hard, and they were right - 2km at 10% to almost 20% took the wind (and breakfast) out of most people.
I suppose it's some kind of compensation to get a stunning view when you get to the top?! Even the original Oropesa del Mar looked much better than the "faux" Oropesa they've constructed just out of town.
And on the other side pf the headland, it was even nicer. I hope development doesn't spoil here as well.
After a nice run down the hill, we're back onto the promenade and bike paths they have installed along most developed coastal areas of Spain.
Here's a new piece of bike path a bit away from the beach.
And a long stretch that followed the road for at least 10km - Tony D marveled at the amount of green paint they must have used :-)
Our coffee stop occurred unexpectedly in the middle of a village away from the coast, but it was surprisingly relaxing.
The morning briefing warned us about this section of the route - apparently it avoided an unnecessary 3km detour, so we took advice and walked across the river.
Some even carrying their bike!
And others even riding theirs, whenever they could!
The scenery for much of the day involved a combination of dry stone walls, citrus fruit groves, and mountains. Now you know where Valencia oranges come from!
We think there are limes on the right, and oranges on the left, but then I'm no expert!
As I've said many times, there's always a castle on a hilltop, especially if it's strategic.
By lunch time, some wanted a drink, and some wanted a salad, and some just wanted to get the ride over - we lost Tony D off the front of the peloton at this stage, and only saw him again when we arrived at the hotel.
The castles are high, the hills dry...
...and the irrigation canals water endless fields of citrus tress.
Graham crosses under a disused railway line.
We get quite a range of hotel rooms on these trips, but so far in Spain they have been much better than average.
Where in the hotel bar an hour after arriving, and guess what?! There's rugby on the TV, and Australia is playing Fiji. These guys can certainly drink a lot of beer after a day on a bike and with sport on the box.
Even a (Kiwi) girl managed to spend some time with the boys until she realised New Zealand wasn't playing!
Dinner was like herding cats - the less said about that, the better...
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